CBA Moves to Passport Scans for Faster Account Opening

Australia’s largest commercial bank has revealed it will permanently accept e-passport scans within its mobile banking app to allow customers to open new accounts without extensive paperwork.

In 2005, Australia was one of the first countries in the world to introduce passports with biometric data stored in a microchip that holds the same information found on the main identification page.

Under the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (CBA) new system, which has been tested since the start of the year, customers would be able to open new bank accounts just by scanning their e-passport.

They would also need to scan their face to prove it matches the photo in their passport.

CBA customer identity and digital security general manager Sascha Thiel said the capability would be opened up to anyone with an e-passport as long as they were in Australia at the time of registering.

“It speeds things up because we’re now allowing customers to join using one single document type, so they can join the bank in as little as one minute,” she said in comments obtained by AAP.

“Historically, we’ve needed multiple forms of identity documents.”

At a later stage, the bank hopes to extend the feature to people overseas planning to migrate or study in Australia, allowing them to open accounts before arriving.

“One of the first administrative hurdles when people are moving countries is how do I open a bank account … so this is another way that will help them settle into life in Australia,” Thiel said.

A Global Banking Trend

Banks across the globe have introduced passport or e-ID scanning to facilitate the opening of bank accounts.

Lloyds Bank in the UK started offering the service in 2023, allowing customers to scan ID chips to pre-fill information on applications.

Many European banks also use the technology as part of identity proofing accounts.

In countries such as Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, digital or wireless credential scanning is increasingly encouraged—and in some sectors (hospitality, telecoms, banking, and transport), mandatory.

A Matter of Privacy?

While digital ID offers a convenient way to sign up for services or verify identity, it has raised privacy concerns.

During government debates on the under-16s social media ban in 2024, the issue came into focus as decisions were made on whether it was appropriate to use biometric data for verification purposes.

The use of digital ID as proof of age had been considered in Australia’s landmark under-16s social media ban, however the idea ultimately did not form part of the government’s legislation for fear it could place sensitive information in the hands of tech companies.

In a Senate debate on cyber safety last year, several senators opposed biometric scanning to verify age online over privacy concerns.

United Australia Party Senator Ralph Babet told the Senate that biometric scanning was tantamount to data mining.

“I cannot stress enough that we are not, nor do we want to become, China or North Korea,” he said.